✓ | 1. subject thirteen [STRANGER THINGS]

six.

[ignore hopper in the gif, it was the only one i could find ]

CHAPTER SIX:
THE RUNAWAY

[ THE BODY PART II ]

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          "But I will not take you there," THIRTEEN stated, his words slow and spoken with utter clarity. He looked solely at Mike as he spoke, eyes unblinking, his fierce and unreadable stare steady. "It's not safe."

          Mike almost flipped the table in his state of absolute fury. He exploded from his chair, crying out, "Bullshit! Come on, we gotta — "

          The others were rising too, THIRTEEN included. The room was a mess of movement aside from ELEVEN, who remained in the corner on the sofa, now sat upright with her eyes widened in surprise and alarm. Dustin and Lucas were up from their seats, gathering their things, starting to leave, but THIRTEEN, who had risen to his feet with the supercom gripped tight in his right hand, let out a yell to stop and they all quickly came to abrupt halts in their movements.

          "I will not take you there," the older boy growled. His voice was quiet, but filled with power.

          Mike span on him and started forward a foot or so, yelling furiously up at THIRTEEN, "So you're just gonna let him die in the Upside Down? My best friend?"

          "Better him than you," THIRTEEN said steadily. "I will not let you die too."

THIRTEEN looked across at ELEVEN, hoping for back-up, help, understanding. But she dipped her head, looked away.

She knew. She knew why he was putting up this fight, why he was avoiding what the boys were fighting to get to the most. Of course she knows — what didn't she know? After all, she was the spy.

So she'd lied. She'd lied to the boys about knowing where the Gate was, and she'd kept it a secret from THIRTEEN, too.

Suddenly, THIRTEEN couldn't help but realise that, even if he called her a kid, that little girl acted far too much like an adult. And a cunning, desperate-to-only-survive adult at that.

Swallowing, THIRTEEN blanched. If she knew, what would he see in her eyes if she did meet his gaze? Guilt? Fear? Or, God forbid, what THIRTEEN feared most from that little girl, his only friend: would it be hatred that he had let it slip the knowledge they both contained? That, most of all, THIRTEEN couldn't bare to see.